The Jenner coast, north of Bodega Bay, had been studied for possible energy exploration.

Photo: Brian L Frank, Special To The Chronicle

The Jenner coast, north of Bodega Bay, had been studied for...

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The rocky Sonoma County shoreline would be protected under the expanded Gulf of the Farallones marine sanctuary.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

The rocky Sonoma County shoreline would be protected under the...

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Kayaker Dwight Goodwin, of Santa Rosa, comes out of the Russian River as it meets the Pacific Ocean in Jenner, Calif.

Photo: Brian L Frank, Special To The Chronicle

Kayaker Dwight Goodwin, of Santa Rosa, comes out of the Russian...

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The rocky shoreline of the Sonoma County, Ca. coastline, North of Jenner, on Friday July 2, 2010. Game wardens have stepped up efforts to catch abalone poachers along the coast. Several poachers have recently been captured in Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

The rocky shoreline of the Sonoma County, Ca. coastline, North of...

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Paul McHugh and Fort Ross historian Stephen Littlebear help John Weed pull his kayak up the beach at Sandy Cove in Fort Ross. The kids in the background are from McKinley Elementary in Petaluma.
Fort Ross located 12 miles north of Jenner was established in 1812 by Russians as an outpost for sea otter hunters and a permanent trade base. It was the southernmost outpost of a Russian presence in the Pacific Northwest. The Russians remained at Fort Ross until sea otters became scarce in 1841. The holdings were sold to John Sutter, who later became famous when gold was discovered at his saw mill in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Rediscovering California's North Coast. A kayak voyage by Paul McHugh, Bo Barnes and John Weed. A paddle from the Oregon border to the SF bay.
Photo taken on 10/7/05 in Fort Ross, CA by Michael Maloney / San Francisco Chronicle

The rocky shoreline of the Sonoma County, Ca. coastline, North of Bodega Bay, on Friday July 2, 2010. Game wardens have stepped up efforts to catch abalone poachers along the coast. Several poachers have recently been captured in Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. This is looking South down the coastline.

President Obama is poised to protect 2,093 square nautical miles of ocean habitat off the coast of Sonoma and Mendocino counties, a move that would more than double the area covered by two national sanctuaries off the West Coast and permanently ban offshore oil drilling there.

The decision, expected Thursday, would create an enormous preserve stretching some 50 miles along the California coast and extending some 30 miles out to sea. It would also fulfill the long-held dream of Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, who has tried repeatedly since 2004 to pass legislation protecting the coastal ecosystem.

End-around by Obama

The proposed expansion from Bodega Bay north to Point Arena in Mendocino County has been blocked repeatedly by congressional Republicans. The only foolproof way to accomplish it now in the face of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives is for President Obama to proclaim it a protected area by executive order, experts say.

"We've been leaning on the door to get this coast protected for a very long time, and I think the door is about to open," said Richard Charter, a senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation who has been working for 35 years trying to create the sanctuary. "This is a historic and globally significant piece of protection. It would be the best possible Christmas present I could imagine, but not just for me. This would protect our coastal economy and our coastal ecosystem for future generations and be a legacy not only for Congresswoman Woolsey, but for President Obama."

The expanded sanctuaries would cover a total of 3,458 square nautical miles - an area about the size of Delaware - and would create a continuous zone of protected ocean from southern Mendocino County all the way to Monterey Bay, which falls within a separate sanctuary. The ban on drilling, oil exploration and other industrial uses within the existing sanctuaries would be expanded, but fishing would be allowed.

Green energy, like wind or wave farms, would not necessarily be banned, but the sanctuary designation would offer an extra level of protection from potential environmental damage.

'Yosemites of the sea'

The proposal would protect what marine biologists say is one of the most abundant ecological regions in the world, "Yosemites of the sea," say environmentalists - all within view of some of California's most picturesque and historic communities, including Jenner, Sea Ranch and Fort Ross.

The nutrient-rich waters from deep ocean upwellings in the Cordell and Farallones regions support about 20 percent of the world's fish, including salmon. Birds and marine mammals, including sea lions, orcas and gray, blue and humpback whales, also thrive in the area.

It is important, Woolsey and others argue, because oil companies have had their eyes on the region for decades. Oil rigs were proposed in the 1970s, provoking widespread opposition. James Watt, interior secretary under President Ronald Reagan, diligently pursued oil exploration there in the 1980s.

After four years of trying, Woolsey finally managed to get a bill through Congress in 2008, but companion legislation introduced by Boxer and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., stalled in the Senate. Woolsey's latest effort, HR192, has been blocked by House Republican leaders, primarily because it might limit future oil and gas production.

Network of preserves

The expected ruling would come a day after the California Fish and Game Commission finalized a network of undersea state reserves, called Marine Protected Areas, extending from Mexico to Oregon. The interconnected series of protected marine environments, most of which do not allow fishing, go 3 miles out from shore. The proposed national sanctuaries would extend 10 times farther out to sea.

Woolsey, who is retiring from Congress on Jan. 3, said the sanctuary designation is supported by environmentalists, fishing interests, state and local governments, university scientists and business leaders.

"The only meaningful opposition comes from national oil interests and their allies in Congress, outsiders who want to drill at any cost," she wrote in support of her bill. "This is more than just a matter of environmental urgency; thousands of jobs hang in the balance too. The local fishermen support my sanctuary bill because their livelihoods depend on a rich harvest that's only possible in a thriving marine ecosystem."